Luxembourg allocated 0.97% of its gross national income, or USD 413 million, to official development assistance in 2011.“Luxembourg is the Development Assistance Committee’ s third most generous donor as a portion of its economy – after Sweden and Norway – and it has a high quality programme” says Brian Atwood, Chair of the DAC. “We commend Luxembourg’s commitment to keeping its ODA at 1% of GNI until 2014”.

There has been growing media criticism of the aid industry in recent years. Some of this has been ideologically driven and some opportunistic but it also appears that journalists are more insistent on holding aid agencies to account than they have been in the past. This is a good thing but often the aid sector has appeared unduly defensive in the face of criticism. This report seeks to understand what a broad range of journalists – both specialists and generalists – think about aid and the agencies that deliver it. The criticisms are wide ranging but several themes emerge. There’s a consensus that the aid sector as a whole needs to be more open and transparent. Since media reporting of the aid industry undoubtedly has a big influence on public opinion, it’s important that we take the views of journalists seriously. A better understanding of what journalists really think will also enable those working in the aid sector to deal more effectively with media criticism.

Speaking at the Kapuscinski Development Lectures in Brussels, Belgium, Julia Gillard, Board Chair of the Global Partnership for Education, stresses that 2015 is a “pivotal moment for global development overall and for efforts to educate more of the world’s children.” “This is a year for decision,” Gillard says. “To me, the agenda for this year is clear. The status quo is unacceptable. We need to raise our level of ambition and rapidly accelerate progress towards achieving our goals for global education.”

With crucial elections across the continent, 2015 is a critical year for democracy in Africa. Hover over each country on the maps below to find out about presidential term limits, voter turnouts and the longest serving leaders

Does channeling more aid to fragile states create enough impact to help these countries transition into stability?

It remains unclear, at least in the case of six countries that have received increased support from the U.K. Department for International Development, which the Independent Commission for Aid Impact evaluated in its latest assessment.

In Sierra Leone and Liberia, thousands of local people have taken part in campaigns to spread the message about how Ebola can be controlled, and millions have taken vital practical steps to prevent infection. When the last case of Ebola is eliminated, it will

Getting to a model of country ownership in which most of the ideas emanate from developing countries themselves, where risks are managed through transparency rather than micromanagement and where countries are able to responsibly raise and manage their own resources, is a long-term project. While the end point may be one that most would agree on, the transition will be legally complex and politically difficult.

Given its evolving aid priorities, DfID needs to change the way it does development and has to make sure its staff is well-equipped to handle an aid architecture that requires more than just program management, Devex has learned.

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